For two years, Bahrainis have been asking “Where is Ali Abdel Imam?” And now finally, they have an answer.
The prominent opposition blogger suddenly emerged from hiding last week, announcing he had been granted asylum in the United Kingdom, news sources reported.
He had not been heard from since March 17, 2011, when he cryptically tweeted, “I get tired from my phone so I switched it of no need for rumors plz.” The Bahraini government had just declared a state of emergency, as massive reform protests rocked the island country. Abdel Imam, who had already been arrested twice before for his work, feared the government would arrest him again in an impending crackdown. So when they came for him the following day, Abdel Imam made sure he wasn’t there. He had not been heard from since–until last week.
The story of Abdel Imam’s escape from Bahrain, as reported by The Atlantic, reads like a Hollywood script, complete with outlandish plots involving body doubles, code names, and secret compartments. The news electrified the Bahraini opposition and human rights defenders across the region. His first tweet since his disappearance, simply reading “online,” was retweeted 257 times and favorited 74 times.
Continue readong on http://cpj.org/blog/2013/05/bahrains-blogfather-emerges-from-hiding.php